Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. De Block for giving her time this morning because I know she is very busy. I was looking at the figures and time periods for the BeNeLuxA agreement and there seems to be much variation in even within BeNeLuxA countries around the availability of drugs. For example, in the Netherlands, its average period is 213 days, whereas the period in Belgium is 440 days and in Ireland it is 477 days. There is also the question of price negotiation. Can more work be done in getting price negotiation between the BeNeLuxA countries and the pharmaceutical companies expedited so all countries could have drugs available in a timely manner? Will Dr. De Block explain why the Netherlands, which is part of the BeNeLuxA agreement, has drugs available on average within 213 days whereas the period for Belgium is 440 days and Ireland is 477 days?